In this paper we describe a low-cost and low-power consumption messaging system based on LoRa technology. More that one billion people worldwide cannot access even the most basic connectivity services. For them even simple messaging services would be of great help, for example to farmers wishing to know the price of goods they want to sell or buy before deciding whether a possibly long, expensive and exhausting trip is undertaken.LoRa networks allow for very long wireless links that can connect villages and towns. This system falls in the category of community networks, where users build their own network where no commercial infrastructure is available. In addition to the simple messaging application, LoRa can be used to distribute sensor information to communities or to provide disaster alerts or meteorological data.
The growing connection among IoT and AI poses many challenges that call for novel approaches and rethinking of the entire architecture, communication, and processing to meet the requirements in latency, reliability, and use of resources. Edge computing is a promising approach in this sense. Moreover, it can become beneficial to bring advanced, i.e., AI-based, IoT solutions in areas where connectivity is scarce and where in general resources are limited.In this paper we describe an edge/fog generic architecture to allow the adoption of edge solutions in IoT deployments in poorly connected and resource limited scenarios. To this end we integrated, using microservices, an MQTT based system that can collect ingress data, handle their persistency, and coordinate data integration with the cloud using a specific service called aggregator. The edge stations have a dedicated channel with the aggregator that is based on LoRa to enable long-range transmissions with low power consumption.Some details of the implementation aspects are described along with some preliminary results. The initial tests of the architecture indicated that is flexible and robust enough to provide a good platform for the deployment of advanced IoT services in contexts with limited resources.
CCS CONCEPTS• Networks → Peer-to-peer protocols; Network architectures; • Information systems → Collaborative and social computing systems and tools.
Remote locations in rural areas can benefit from any system that would provide some form of connectivity. In a previous work we described a low cost architecture that, thanks to the use of the LoRa technology, allowed long links using low energy and a cheap infrastructure. In this work we extend those results by adding the possibility to include generic external sources of data using an MQTT based interface. More specifically, we describe a voice messaging system that allows users that cannot read or write to send voice based messages. We describe how the system was integrated into the existing platform and present some performance results. We consider that these results are promising and provide a tool that can offer a useful service at a low cost.
CCS CONCEPTS• Networks → Peer-to-peer protocols; Network architectures; • Human-centered computing → Accessibility systems and tools; • Information systems → Collaborative and social computing systems and tools.
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